As the tragic events evolve in Porepunkah, northeast Victoria, media outlets have reported the alleged shooter, Dezi Freeman, is known to be a “sovereign citizen”.
Sovereign citizens believe they are not subject to the law. This view stems from deeply held anti-government beliefs combined with conspiracy thinking that the government was replaced with a corporation that controls us through our birth certificates, licences, and other identification documents. We are only subject to the laws of this corporation, the theory goes, if we choose to enter into a contract with it.
This fundamental rejection of government authority means sovereign citizens refuse to comply with routine processes such as paying taxes and completing random breath tests. They use pseudo-law – legal-sounding but ultimately false arguments – to disobey police and disrupt the court system.
